Migrant Song

There have been actions that he's regretted, not for the band's lack of nobility but for that of the crooked politicians the band has come across. In 2004, Los Tigres decided to hold a benefit concert for the families of the hundreds of women murdered in Ciudad Juarez since 1993. International rights groups had long criticized the government for a weak investigation. Hernandez says he felt a total sense of disillusionment when local officials refused to help sponsor the Tigres benefit concert. Their reason? The show, they said, as well as Los Tigres' homage song to the women "Mujeres de Ciudad Juarez" gave the city a bad reputation.

"You try to help people, and you get frustrated because suddenly you get into problems you weren't looking for," Hernandez says. Since the Juarez concert, the band has opted to do less-controversial benefits, instead pouring their money into the Los Tigres del Norte Foundation at University of California-Los Angeles in an effort to help Hispanics preserve their language and culture. In fact, their upcoming release Raices is an effort to recapture classic Mexican songs like "Cielito Lindo," whose melody is known way beyond the Hispanic world. "We hope that when people have this CD, they feel like we do. It's a way to identify with your people, roots, customs, and experiences."

Although Hernandez is only a U.S. resident and thus can't vote, he says if he could, he'd definitely cast a ballot for the Democrats, and he's more convinced by La Señora Clinton. "I like to give credit to the women," he says. But whoever wins, he hopes they can come up with a viable immigration policy. "We've sung about immigrants on every single album," he adds.

Back in Homestead, New Times is still curious to know whose story might make for a Tigres ballad. Prying produces only pursed lips from the migrants until Enrique finally speaks back up: "Illegals don't have any stories to tell, remember?"